LITTLE LEAGUE: Keystone uses long ball to deck Cressona

nick meyer/staff photo
Cressona manager Jeff Smith talks to his players during Sunday's Section 3 Little League 11-12-year-old Tournament game against Keystone. The District 24 champs fell into the losers' bracket with a 15-1 loss.

Keystone rocketed four home runs to rout Cressona 15-1 in four innings in the Section 3 Little League 11-12-year-old winners' bracket final.

With the victory, Keystone (7-0) advances to the Section 3 championship at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Cressona (7-2) drops to the losers' bracket and will face Danville at 5:30 p.m. today in an elimination game. Dan-

ville defeated Potter-McKean 5-1 in an elimination game Sunday.

"We have to play one of our best games when we play against this team," Cressona manager Jeff Smith said of Keystone. "We didn't really come close to playing that well."

Keystone scored in every inning against the District 24 champions, collecting 14 hits.

In the first inning, Asher Corl singled and Troy Gardner smashed a home run over the left-center-field wall to put the District 12 champions up 2-0.

Keystone added six more in the second inning on five hits. Zack Eck, Ranner Lavelle and Gardner recorded singles, while Corl and Mahlik Houtz blasted two-run homers as Keystone built an 8-1 lead.

In the third, Keystone exploded for five hits to score four more runs. Corl, Aaron Schwartz and Houtz singled, Ross Glossner hit a double and Austin Rager launched a homer over the center-field fence.

Keystone piled on three more runs to cap the scoring in the top of the fourth, stretching the lead to 15-1. Rager doubled and Gardner rapped an RBI single to round out the inning.

Corl and Gardner each finished 3-for-3 with two RBIs and combined to score six runs.

"There was a lack of hustle," Smith said. "The kids didn't react well to going down."

Cressona scored its only run in the bottom of the first inning. After Keystone's big six-run second, Cressona failed to develop any real scoring chances after that.

Ben Kramer drew a walk and advanced around the bases on wild pitches to score Cressona's only run of the contest.

The Keystone defense limited Cressona to just four baserunners. Kramer reached twice, with his third-inning single being Cressona's only hit of the game.

Nate Nabholz drew a walk and Hunter Luckenbill reached base on a dropped third strike.

"If you don't get on base, you can't score," Smith said. "You have to hope that the kids can bounce back."

Keystone, on the other hand, chalked up 19 baserunners in just four innings.

A few defensive miscues in key situations allowed Keystone to compile extra baserunners and extra chances.

"You can't give any team here four and five outs," Smith said. "Every team here is a good team."

Cressona will need a win today in order to keep its hopes of a Section 3 title alive.

The winner of today's game between Cressona and Danville will move on to play Keystone in the championship, but will have to win twice in order to earn the Section 3 crown.

"We'll come out with the same game plan we have been using," Smith said. "We need to make the plays and hit the ball."

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